Three civilians were shot dead between Tuesday and Wednesday in the city of Timbuktu, in northern Mali, by unidentified gunmen, according to local authorities and witnesses.
Tuesday evening, two young Timbuktans were
"murdered"
around 7 pm
"by two unidentified armed individuals moving in a vehicle"
, announced Wednesday, December 8 the governorate of Timbuktu in a statement.
These two young people - a hairdresser and his client - were, according to several notables interviewed by AFP, members of the Songhai community.
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Tensions, sometimes deadly, are recurrent in this city between members of sedentary communities (Songhai and Bambara) and the nomads (Tuareg and Arab).
Three people were killed in town in tensions between residents at the end of November.
The last major clashes in Timbuktu date back to 2019
.
"These are targeted assassinations and acts of reprisal that involve disputes between members of several communities,"
a notable told AFP on condition of anonymity.
Mali has been in the grip of a latent and protean conflict since 2012, first confined to the north of the country with the appearance of independentist armed groups, then jihadists, but which has since spread over a large part of the territory.